Annoyed, he allegedly posted a picture of a Bexley councillor's house on Twitter, writing "Which c*** lives in a house like this. Answers on a postcard to #bexleycouncil."

He later posted another tweet which said "It’s silly posting a picture of a house on Twitter without an address, that will come later. Please feel free to post actual s**t."

Although intially Kerlen was also charged with harrassment, reports one blogger, this charge was later dropped.

Kerlen has been prevented from blogging about the conviction, after a restraining order issued in December prevented him from mentioning Bexley council and its councillors, either directly or indirectly on any social media sites or blogs.

His supporters, publicising their blogs under the hashtag #freethebexleyone, have spoken out about his conviction. Blogger Spiderplantland, who has met Kerlen, highlighted the importance of the case after Friday's guilty verdict.

Bexley Council issued a statement saying that though they were "totally supportive of freedom of expression and legitimate political debate, they believed that Kerlen's actions "went beyond the limits of what is both acceptable and reasonable in terms of freedom of expression"

Councillors are entitled to know "that their families and their homes are not legitimate targets for abuse" the statement continues.

However if there were hopes that Friday's conviction by Greenwich Court would stop offensive messages being posted about Bexley councillors, the ruling may have backfired. Twitter users have been using the c-word in connection with Bexley councillors sparingly, in defiance of the verdict.

Olly Cromwell, or Kerlen has continued to blog after moving his website so that the blog is hosted offshore. However, his website is down at the moment. It is unclear whether this is due to intervention by the authorities or simply crashing due to the number of visits